Landor's 2015 trends forecast
By Landor
What will the best brands of the future look like?
Landor's experts from around the world analyzed
innovations, changes, consumer behaviors, and
attitudes from a multitude of industries and global
locales, and emerged with unexpected insights
for 2015. Noteworthy and established trends are
picking up steam and changing the branding
game-from the rise of megacities to back-tobasics
naming to personalized everything. Brands
that are laser clear on what they stand for-and
that never stand still-will lead the way. Here's
what you need to know.
Megacities spur consumer desire for a stronger sense of belonging
Welcome to the age of megacities and mega-developments.
Urban growth is exploding at the seams,
growing faster, bigger, wider, and taller than ever before.
As a result, there's a rising demand for more distinctive
urban environments with a stronger sense of place.
Melbourne and Vancouver are just a few of the cities
that have bolstered their identities in recent years,
drawing millions of tourists and fostering a sense of
community. On a smaller scale, Barcelona's infamous
inner district, El Raval, is changing negative perceptions
and encouraging local pride with a fresh campaign and
identity centered around ravalejar, a new Spanish verb
celebrating the neighborhood's edgy charm. Looking
ahead, branding will play an even greater role in helping
to humanize mega developments, alter viewpoints, and
bring communities together.
Naming goes super simple
With more noise in the digital marketplace and less
time than ever to capture consumers' attention, brands
will continue to streamline the path to sales. That
includes a shift back to basic, clear, relevant naming
solutions. More monikers will have universal, easy-tograsp
concepts that consumers can instantly connect
to (think Uber and Square) and that brands can fully
own in meaning and URL. Apple, who finally dropped its
iconic "i" naming convention, and Google have already
transitioned to this elementary naming approach,
placing greatest importance on their recognizable
master brands by positioning them first, followed by
simple product descriptors: Apple Watch, Apple TV,
Apple Pay; Google Glass, Google Wallet, Google Play.
- B2B trumps B2C in social media
- Social responsibility becomes old school
- Personalized marketing is bigger than ever
- Experiential marketing wins greatest consumer loyalty
- Brands speak more like real people
To continue reading, download Landor's 2015 trends forecast (pdf, 500 Kb).